Mad World 2020

Emma Hoff, 8

Locked
In your own head,
In fear
That the grass will
Turn different
The minute
You open the
Door.

That
Flickering lights
And a cloak
Will greet you
And everything
Will attack your mind
At once
When you see
What’s happening
To other people.

‘Children waiting for the day they feel good’

And nothing seems right
As everyone
Cries
Stressed
Scared
Or alone, as if floating.

‘Their tears are filling up their glasses’

And no one
Comes along to comfort them,
Because no one
Is there.

Everyone is holed up in their homes
Out of trouble.

‘And I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take. When people run in circles it’s a very, very, mad world.’

Emma’s poem was submitted to our Weekly Flash Contest #20: to write a poem inspired by a song. It refers to Mad World, originally written and performed by Tears for Fears (1983) and covered by many other artists since.